You might find a lot of sellers on ebay are running a business and like a B&M store they also have overheads that are to be factored into their sale price.

A lot of people can not just go to the shops as they are in remote areas so ebay or any online shopping is the easiest and best option for them.

bsal6160 wrote:

Has anyone else noticed how items on Ebay appear to be getting more expensive these days. I think a lot of sellers now have an over-inflated sense of value of the items they are trying to sell. Its almost at the point where its cheaper, if not the same price, to buy it from a main stream shop nowadays.

If the items are at similar prices elsewhere, I don't think it's possible that the sellers on eBay have an over-inflated sense of value...unless you're suggesting that because it's on eBay, it's worth less than what you'd pay somewhere else?

True enough, it was once a case of 'get it cheaper on eBay', but eBay seems to want to move away from the image of cheap / discount / clearance, they want to be a global online shopping mall and real shopping malls are aware of and competing with eBay now, so it's not just a case of eBay getting more expensive, but B&M retail getting a little cheaper, too.

Plus, it's a bit of a viscious cycle I suppose...people are spending less, other things are costing more, which often means sellers can't afford to offer larger discounts because the volume of sales still won't absorb it if they do.

I reject your reality and substitute my own. ~Adam Savage

patchoo78 wrote:

I noticed the opposite.. A lot of the items I'm looking at are quite cheap but the postage was extortionate

Yes exactly... I find that postage prices are the one of the major contributing factors in making online shopping in australia too expensive. Australia Post has a monopoly for postal services so they keep increasing their prices of their services.

At times I feel like I am a subsidiary department of Australia Post. They seems to get a large chunk of my turnover leaving me with little profit.

I would be more likely to buy a book from Aus.. When I want a book, I want it now! Other stuff can wait

You'd be non conforming too if you looked just like me

I agree with you, prices have increased and it also seems that some of the quality has gone down the toilet to, but so has retail stuff particulary in the region i live in.

It makes me wonder that i myself have started to not buy stuff regardless of the price because the quality is s*!t, i have done that a lot lately and i know others that are doing the same, eventually this is going to have a hug impact on the enconomy as i'd rather keep my money in my pocket then waste it on cheap,nasty, crap imported junk.

I find postage is too high sometimes, particularly from overseas, but it is not really the seller's fault. However, it does deter me from buying certain items.

As far as books are concerned, I mostly buy them at book sales, where you can find real bargains, although they are usually a bit too crowded... We also have a new shop here where all books are 5 dollars (new, even if the price on the book is over 30 dollars sometimes), and some are really good.

Depends what you're looking for. Still plenty of bargains to be found on eBay.

All the things I have bought so far, except for one item, including mobile phones, have been less expensive than the stores.

Ebay sellers deserve to get a decent price and I don't think they have an inflated sense of worth.  I will say this however, since there is the chance of being ripped off on ebay, as you really are buying sight unseen, if the price was the SAME as the stores, you would not buy from ebay.

With Ebay you have to contend with postages costs, while with stores you don't.

Market place sets prices if they are too high they wont sell, if too cheap they will sell quickly and sellers will increse price until sale start to drop off

Many more buyers are buying for convenience rather than pure bargains.

------------------------------- ASSUMPTION IS THE MOTHER OF ALL STUFF UPS!!